The present invention relates to a line-changing device, and to a kit for its manufacture.
A known line-changing device of the type of interest here is composed of a [Transrapid Mag-Lev Train—The New Dimension of Travel], Hestra-Verlag Darmstadt 1989, pages 32 through 35, DE 10 2004 015 495 A1). An essential component of a bending point of this type is a flexible, steel support, which is, e.g., 80 m or even longer or shorter, which carries the rail or equipment associated therewith. The support is positioned in a stationary manner at one end, while the rest of the carrier is supported using a plurality of support frames and wheels mounted thereon such that it may be moved along rails located transversely to its longitudinal direction, which is also the direction of travel. To adjust the switch, the support frames may be moved back-and-forth along the rails, thereby bending the support in an elastic manner and aligning it with any of several routes that branch off from the switch.
Numerous parts that are subject to wear are accommodated in the support frames, which are also referred to as rail crossmembers. The parts subject to wear are wheels, bearing bushes, gears, transmissions, couplings, motors, or the like, and they serve to facilitate a line change. To fulfill the requirements placed on the repair/maintenance and, therefore, on the availability of line-changing devices, the parts subject to wear—at the least—must be replaced from time to time. To ensure that this would result only in a brief interruption of the magnetic levitation train, which operates 24 hours a day, a further requirement is that it be possible to replace the parts subject to wear in the shortest amount of time possible, e.g., within a few hours. When the known line-changing devices are used, difficulties arise, however, because the support frames must be removed entirely and replaced with new support frames, a task which is made that much more difficult at high elevations above the ground and in places that are difficult to access, due to the relatively heavy weight of the support frame.